![]() ![]() Hemingway once observed that the quality and intensity of a culture's ability to "swear" declined as it became less religious: he envied the power of swearing in early 20th century Spain, which apparently was religiously based. Religion has loosened its grip, and as a result we can't shock by casual use of religious references. But that is because folks today cannot imagine the mindset in which the "real" words would be shocking to use. Yet these euphemisms survived on their own, and, to today's ears, sound quaint, affected, prissy and old fashioned. Words like golly, gosh, darn, gee, heck.all euphemisms to avoid religious words. What we consider profane or unacceptable in polite company changes dramatically over time. (Golly! Didn't Joakim Larsson of Sweden suggest a neat Good Word for today?) The offspring of this word thrived among the Germanic languages, producing also German Gott, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish gud, and Dutch god. God derives from PIE gheu- "to call, invoke", a word that also produced English giddy. Good goes back to a Proto-Indo-European word ghedh- "to unite, join, fit", from which together also derives. People often point to the similar spellings of god and good and speculate that they are related. Word History: Golly, like gosh, is a euphemism for god. Gomer Pyle, the simpleminded filling-station attendant played by Jim Nabors in the 1960s TV show, The Andy Griffith Show, used it a lot, but he accented the last syllable and dragged out the first: : "Golly, Andy! You mean the sun doesn't move and the earth goes around it?" There is a common phrase containing golly expressing the determination of the speaker: "By golly, I'll never go out with that Aly Katz again." In Play: Today's slightly faded word is often associated with simplemindedness. Gee and Gee whiz! are euphemisms for Jesus, Gosh is another one for god, and darn replaces damn. Usually the euphemism sounds like the word it replaces. Words associated with religious figures, profanity, and sexual and excretory organs are often expressed via euphemisms. Notes: Today's Good Word is a euphemism for God! when used as an exclamation. ![]() Meaning: An interjection used to indicate surprise or wonder. ![]()
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